A French teacher at the DeKalb School of the Arts took a student's suggestion during an August school lockdown and played a YouTube clip from the animated classic, "The Triplets of Belleville."
A robbery at a nearby store had triggered the delay in releasing students from the elite DeKalb high school, and teacher James Dickson had already turned down other French music video recommendations from his level-three French students because he was unfamiliar with the content.
But he had seen "The Triplets of Belleville," a French movie nominated for two Oscars in 2003 and celebrated as groundbreaking animation. So, he thought a three-minute YouTube clip of a musical number from the film would be safe; a decision Dickson later described in a parent email as a "lapse in diligence."
DeKalb Schools told me today Dickson is on paid administrative leave. I reached out to him via email and will share any response.
While
which rates movies for family viewing, deems “The Triplets of Belleville” as appropriate for children 12 and older, the clip showed some of the film's wildest scenes, including parodies of American-born French performer Josephine Baker's banana skirt skit and hoofer Fred Astaire being eaten by his tap shoes.
What happened next is a cautionary tale about overreactions or under reactions, depending on your point of view. First, here is the video itself:
After her daughter told her about the video that Friday afternoon, parent Nwandi Lawson complained, escalating her protests from the teacher, to the principal, district, media and the NAACP. A few parents are frustrated at the absence of the teacher from the classroom as a result of those complaints -- there is a substitute teacher in the class -- and the demonization of what they consider a great film. Some are upset at Lawson for her dogged attempts to shine a light on the incident.
A communications consultant and a TV producer and host, Lawson has been sharing her concerns and related emails with reporters.
I spoke to her today about the yet unknown fate of the teacher, which she said was a district matter outside of her control or knowledge. "I am not familiar with his personnel file," Lawson said. "We are searching out a villain; we are forming sides, we are going to punish someone. There are number of parents lashing out at me."
Students should be the focus, she said, whether or not they complained about what they saw. Lawson said the adults in this setting have a responsibility to recognize the clip was harmful and an obligation to address what she considers the mocking of people of color and women.
That has yet to happen, said Lawson. She is not suggesting an all-day event; she said a well-designed 30-minute session could be enough.
The clip from the movie -- without context or preparation -- is out-of-place in a classroom. However, I would argue no teacher should lose a job over this. I agree with Lawson the clip provides a jumping off point for many deep discussion strands, but the question I asked her: What should the school do if some parents don't believe any more time should be given over to what they view as a minor misstep?
Lawson called that response "immature," saying people can't shrug off or make light of racism or sexism under the rationale "I wasn't impacted."
In addition to speaking to me, Lawson shared her views in writing:
Here are some of the email exchanges to give you a better sense of the discussion.
Lawson first mailed the teacher on Aug. 21. Among the concerns she outlined to him:
I am not sure what prompted you to present this misogynistic, hyper-sexualized, and racially insensitive scene to your students…My daughter is understandably disgusted by the experience she had on Friday when she was subjected, as a young woman of color, to the humiliation of viewing women and people of African descent portrayed as objects of derision and sexual folly. I don't believe she is the only student who was negatively impacted by this experience. These students are deserving of an explanation and an apology. I hope that you will seize this teachable moment to restore dignity to this DeKalb School of the Arts educational setting.
The teacher replied:
I understand your concern. I just wanted to let you know that this was certainly not part of the lesson plan. We were still holding students in class and I allowed them to request French music, which I displayed on the Promethean Board. I had seen the movie years ago and know it is considered a "classic," but I had forgotten about this aspect of it. I did stop the video before it was finished and will definitely not show it again. It is a reminder to me to screen everything first and keep the Promethean remote handy to hit the blank/stop button in case of anything unexpected and unsavory. I apologize for this lapse in diligence.
Still alarmed, Lawson and another mother met with the principal, again seeking a discussion in the classroom and training for teachers. She also took her concerns to the NAACP, which sent this letter to DeKalb Superintendent Steve Green.
It was brought to the attention of the DeKalb County Branch of the NAACP by a DSA Parent, Mrs. Lawson that a video was shown to her daughter's French Class which they both found to be sexist/racist quite disturbing. We also viewed the video and agree with the inappropriateness of the video and question the lack of good judgement in selecting this as an educational resource. Based on the email chain that was shared with us, it is evident that Mrs. Lawson is a very involved DSA parent and wants only the best for the school and the students enrolled there. She has gone through the proper chain of authority to get answers and has provided constructive feedback to the school and the district for correcting the damage possibly done to the students who viewed the video. She has become frustrated with the lack of responsiveness by the school and the district.
We join with Mrs. Lawson and other parents who have students in that class in requesting that the district implement the following actions to remediate the damage that may have been done to the students that viewed this inappropriate video:
•Notify all parents of students in that class that a distasteful video was shown to their children and the DeKalb School System regrets any emotional distress the video may have caused. This incident will be further addressed by the DeKalb School Administration.
•Provide DSA faculty and staff with certified professional development training in the area of cultural awareness and inclusion and diversity.
•Implement a district-wide cultural awareness and inclusion and diversity training program.
The DeKalb County Branch of the NAACP considers itself an ally and partner of DeKalb County School District and its mission to ensure student success, leading to higher education, work, and lifelong learning. Thank you for the courtesy of a response by September 8, 2017 regarding our request to address this unfortunate occurrence.
Teresa Hardy, President
NAACP DeKalb County Branch
In a statement, DeKalb Schools said:
The DeKalb County School District issued a statement regarding the video stating, "The DeKalb County School District regrets students at the DeKalb School of the Arts were exposed to the nudity and racist caricatures contained in the video. Those images have absolutely no place in our classrooms, and the decision to show the video is totally outside of the district's policies, expectations and standards. An investigation was conducted, and the personnel responsible for the showing have been addressed through personnel matters. Moving forward, DCSD will partner with community agencies to provide support and work to ensure that incidents like this do not happen in the future."
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